Spinal discs that extend between the endplates of adjacent vertebrae in a spinal column of the human body provide critical support between the adjacent vertebrae. These discs can rupture, degenerate and/or protrude by injury, degradation, disease or the like to such a degree that the intervertebral space between adjacent vertebrae collapses as the disc loses at least a part of its support function, which can cause impingement of the nerve roots and severe pain. In some cases, surgical correction may be required.
Typically, the surgical correction includes the removal of the spinal disc from between the adjacent vertebrae, and, in order to preserve the intervertebral disc space for proper spinal-column function, a prosthetic device is sometimes inserted in the intervertebral space between the adjacent vertebrae. In this context, the motion and alignment preserving prosthetic device may be referred to as an artificial disc, an intervertebral prosthetic joint or a prosthetic implant, among other labels.
In some cases, the inserted artificial disc may not function properly due to a wide variety of reasons such as, for example, failure of or damage to the artificial disc, poor tissue healing, the deterioration of the function and/or shape of the spinal column after the surgical correction, and/or other patient-related factors. In response, revision surgery, that is, another surgical correction, may be required in which the artificial disc is removed from the intervertebral space between the adjacent vertebrae. In other cases, the intervertebral space may be prepared to receive a prosthetic implant, when the surgeon determines that the patient would be better served by a fusion implant.
Thus, in either case, fusion of adjacent vertebrae previously prepared to receive a prosthetic joint may be the selected solution. Traditional fusion methods and devices may not provide the fit, stability, and/or alignment required to treat an intervertebral space prepared for a motion preserving device.